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History · Jeff

Jeff’s post office opened in 1902

Most of Jeff was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1916 on.

1902first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Jeff’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Jeff began

When was Jeff founded?

1902

The Jeff post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 293124 years
Founding year: the first Jeff post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Jeff’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 19164 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1992. Watch Jeff change.
★ What stands out · On the map

Jeff on the map, 1916 to 1992

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jeff. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Jeff on the 1916 USGS mapJeff on the 1954 USGS mapJeff on the 1972 USGS mapJeff on the 1992 USGS map1916Cornettsville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Jeff.

The story so far

Jeff, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Jeff yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Jeff is a census-designated place and coal town in Perry County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census, Jeff had a population of 293. A post office was established in the community in 1902 and named for the early settler Jefferson Combs.

Its first post office opened in 1902. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 323 to 293 (-9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Jeff, 1902 to 1946

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902Post officeThe Jeff post office opens
  3. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1946In the archiveKenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry County, Kentucky. Picture of House #1 sur…
By decade

Jeff, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s6 items
Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry County, Kentucky. Picture of House #1 surveyed1946Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry Count…Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry County, Kentucky. Picture of House #7 surveyed1946Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry Count…Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry County, Kentucky. Typical garbage and refuse disposal from house #6 sur…1946Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry Count…Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry County, Kentucky. Typical garbage disposal of house #5 surveyed1946Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry Count…Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry County, Kentucky. View of pump house #2, 190' deep about 60 gal. per min1946Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry Count…Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry County, Kentucky. Views front and back of house -10 surveyed, showing h…1946Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry Count…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Kenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry County, Kentucky. Picture of House #1 surveyed
Retake this viewKenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jeff, Perry County, Kentucky. Picture of House #1 surveyed, 1946

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Jeff’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Jeff

Nobody well known was born in Jeff itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Rebecca GayheartAmerican actress · b. 1971
John HensleyAmerican actor · b. 1977
Juanita M. KrepsUnited States Secretary of Commerce · b. 1921
Louise SlaughterAmerican politician · b. 1929
Bernie BickerstaffAmerican basketball coach and executive · b. 1944
G
Gary StewartAmerican singer · b. 1944
Help out

Finish Jeff’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewKenmont Coal Company, Kenmont Mine, Jef…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Jeff’s history

What year was Jeff founded?

The Jeff post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.